phoenixandrew Review of The First Wave

The First Wave (2021)

Had watched the events unfold when they happened 3,000 miles away in California.

[10/10 · 14 November 2021]

I watched the film via streaming on the Eventive app on Apple TV. The first moments of the documentary was hard to watch. Several times I considered turning the TV off and not watching it. You, the viewer, are basically like the fly on the wall where interns and nurses are constantly called to rooms in ICU to assist dying patients trying by a long shot to rescue them from sure death either through CPR or electro heart shocks before deciding their pulses are not coming back and they are declared dead. Many times the interns and nurses lose it and get very emotional when they are unable to save lives. You actually see one body getting zipped in a body bag, stored in a refrigerated truck and buried in a mass grave. Later on, the movie focuses on three specific people. An intern and two severely ill Covid-19 patients in ICU on ventilators. One is a school security officer for the NYPD, the other one of the hospital's nurses who is pregnant who caught covid from her patients. While in ICU, she gave birth by C-section. The film also focuses on both their families and how they are coping. Throughout the film it is hard to predict if either of them would survive. I predict this film will be a strong candidate for an Oscar for Best Documentary.